TY - JOUR TI - Histone deacetylase inhibitors: A novel therapeutic weapon gainst medullary thyroid cancer? AU - Damaskos, C. AU - Valsami, S. AU - Spartalis, E. AU - Antoniou, E.A. AU - Tomos, P. AU - Karamaroudis, S. AU - Zoumpou, T. AU - Pergialiotis, V. AU - Stergios, K. AU - Michaelides, C. AU - Kontzoglou, K. AU - Perrea, D. AU - Nikiteas, N. AU - Dimitroulis, D. JO - ANTICANCER RESEARCH PY - 2016 VL - 36 TODO - 10 SP - 5019-5024 PB - International Institute of Anticancer Research SN - 0250-1291 TODO - 10.21873/anticanres.11070 TODO - belinostat; butyric acid; butyric acid derivative; depsipeptide; histone deacetylase inhibitor; hydroxamic acid derivative; m carboxycinnamic acid bis hydroxamine; suberoyl bis hydroxamic acid; trichostatin A; unclassified drug; valproic acid; vorinostat; histone deacetylase inhibitor, clinical trial (topic); human; Medline; neuroendocrine tumor; phase 1 clinical trial (topic); phase 2 clinical trial (topic); phase 3 clinical trial (topic); priority journal; Review; thyroid medullary carcinoma; animal; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine; Thyroid Neoplasms, Animals; Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine; Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; Humans; Thyroid Neoplasms TODO - Background/Aim: Medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is highly malignant, metastatic and recurrent, remaining generally incurable, and responsible for approximately 14% of all thyroid carcinoma-related deaths. MTC can metastasize to lymph nodes, trachea and distant organs, such as brain, lungs, liver and bones. MTC cells are resistant to chemotherapy and traditional external therapies are not showing definite clinical benefits. Scientists are trying to understand the molecular background of carcinogenesis and histone deacetylase (HDAC) seems to play a potential role to gene transcription. On the other hand, HDAC inhibitors (HDACI) hamper the HDAC action giving promising results as new anticancer drugs. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the current status of research considering the role of HDACIs in MTC treatment and to present the latest trends in MTC treatment protocols. Materials and Methods: This literature review was accomplished using the MEDLINE database. The key words/phrases were; HDACI, medullary thyroid cancer, HDACI in the therapy of neuroendocrine tumors, HDACI in MTC. Fortyone articles were selected from the total number of the search's results. Only sixteen papers focus on the use of HDACIs in the treatment of MTC. In order to extract our conclusions, we took into account some studies whose main topic does not strictly refer to the MTC but they contain noteworthy and useful information. Only English articles published up to August 2016 were assessed and used for writing this review. Results: Molecules, such as valproid acid (VPA), vorinostat, suberoyl bis-hydroxamic acid (SBHA), depsipeptide, belinostat, m-carboxycinnamic acid bishydroxamine (CBHA) and AB3 have shown promising antitumor effects against MTC. Conclusion: HDACIs represent a promising field for targeted therapy both for its anticancer properties, as well as for augmenting radiotherapeutic modalities. More trials are needed. ER -